The Torrid Love Affair
by Catboy25
Summary: This is a the story of a love affair between Shuichi Nitori and his famous model/girlfriend Anna Suehiro who have their relationship exposed to the world in a very public way.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Two seventh grade boys tried their best to sneak around the back of their school without being seen by other students, especially any prying eyes that would spot their contraband item, a disreputable gossip magazine that was always printed cheaply and in a hurry to cash in on whatever disgraces were happening most recently. This magazine had just been printed that morning on the same cut-price kind of paper found in junk mail and store catalogues. The sweat from the boy's fingers was enough to cause the print to smudge; it's only sign of having any value was the full colour layout.

The only place the boys could find where they could view the magazine without being spotted was the bottom of an empty loading dock that led into the school's auditorium. They crouched down low, hidden behind the concrete bollards, as the shorter of the two boys opened the magazine to a page he pre-selected earlier. It had cost him all his lunch money just to buy this publication and he was willing to go hungry for a day just to get his hands on this one article, an article written about a student in their school.

"Here it is," said Noguchi as he thumbed the magazine open, "Two young teens attending a notorious karaoke club were surreptitiously filmed having a make-out session in a private room. One of the teens was Anna Suehiro, a well known model working for the Denki modelling agency. The other teen, originally thought to be a girl, was actually a boy. Anna's boyfriend is a cross dresser, who for a brief while was also a model for the Denki agency. He reportedly modelled girl's clothes while he was there."

The boy who everyone referred to as Yama-P leaned over to look at the magazine's text under the photos and asked, "Does it mention his name?"

Noguchi held up the opposite page and said, "Here it is. Shuichi Nitori. A photographer working for the Kenji agency found the original pictures that were taken of Shuichi and sent them to the publisher after he recognized seeing Shuichi in the original story. This photographer was the one who broke the story that Shuichi was actually a boy, not a girl."

Yama-P looked at the photos in disbelief and said, "Cripes, he really does look like a girl, doesn't he?"

Noguchi shook his head and said, "The sleazy guy who filmed Shuichi and Anna kissing honestly thought he had a film of two girls making out, and he intended to sell it as yuri voyeurism to some porn website about two weeks ago. But when he recognized Anna, he thought he had a news scoop of an underage model having a torrid lesbian love affair, and the idiot tried to sell it to the papers."

"What's so dumb about that?" asked Yama-P.

"Well he kinda forgot he was breaking the law as he was filming secretly without permission," said Noguchi, "The papers called the cops and the guy got arrested. The film somehow got uploaded to the internet, and the story broke from there."

Yama-p scratched his head and asked, "If they arrested the pervert, how did the film get uploaded to the internet?"

Noguchi turned the page to look at grainy pictures that showed screen captures of the video.

"I overheard the teachers talking about this when I passed the faculty room this morning," said Noguchi, "They figured if that pervert sent the video to the papers, they probably leaked it to the internet themselves after they turned the guy into the police. That way they still have a story to report, and not have to actually pay anyone for it."

"But couldn't uploading the video be traced back to them?" asked Yama-P.

"No way," said Noguchi, "There's gotta be like a hundred ways to upload something to the internet without it being traced to you. Like say if you paid cash to use a computer at an internet cafe, or a library computer. There's no way anyone could prove the newspapers did it themselves."

"That's pretty disgraceful," said Yama-P as he looked a little lost in thought, "Has Nitori been back to school, yet?"

"Hell no. I haven't seen him for over a week," said Noguchi, "Boy that Nitori is one lucky bastard. My grandfather said if any kids back in his day were caught wearing dresses and making out with girls they would have been shipped off to reform school."

Yama-P suddenly perked up and said, "Hey! You don't think Shuichi isn't here because he's in trouble with Juvenile court?"

Noguchi just shrugged and went, "Why would he be? All they did was kiss. And cross dressing isn't illegal. If it was you would have to bust every cosplay convention from Nagasaki to Hokkaido Island."

Scuffing his feet on the asphalt, Yama-P looked bothered.

"I think what's happening to them is pretty unfair. They didn't really do anything wrong."

"Don't feel sorry for that rascal," said Noguchi as he held up the magazine.

The low quality colour picture showed Shuichi and Anna kissing, with Shuichi's hand clearly placed on Anna's chest.

Yama-P's eyes lit up as he said, "Holy moley, is he touching her boobs? That's second base!"

Noguchi quickly shushed Yama-P for fear he was drawing attention to them, and he quickly rolled up the magazine and stuck in the back of his pants.

"I got that Nitori figured out," said Noguchi, "All this time we thought he was some sort of girly-boy or fag. But he's had three girlfriends since he's come to this school, and all of them are hot."

"He's had three?" asked Yama-P.

Noguchi counted on his fingers and said, "Anna, and of course you know about Takatsuki, and there's Soari Chiba."

"Chiba?" Yama-P blurted out, "No way! Her too?"

"Word is she confessed to him, and he rejected her," said Noguchi.

"Dammit, that lucky creep!"

Noguchi pulled the magazine out again and pointed to a specific photo of Shuichi posing in a dress for the camera.

"He knows he's cute and he's using it," said Noguchi as he pointed out to some text printed under the photo, "According to a quote from the model Maico, Anna is obsessed with cute things. She has a real moe-fetish."

Noguchi repeatedly jabbed his finger at the photo in the magazine and said, "That's what Nitori was doing, he was exploiting Anna's obsession to get his hand up her shirt."

Yama-p was taken aback a little, and then he asked, "Are you telling me he dresses up as a girl to get himself girlfriends?"

"Yes!" Noguchi exasperated.

Looking away, Yama-P rubbed his chin in thought.

"Do you think we could do the same?"

"Well I don't think we can show up to school pulling off the same stunt Nitori did," said Noguchi, "But I think we have options."

"What do you mean?" asked Yama-P.

"You've seen the maid cafe's they do here every year?"

"Yes, the girls go ape over the guys dressed in maid outfits," said Yama-P.

"Instead of waiting for next year's school cultural festival, I say we prepare for one of the cosplay conventions. If given a month, we should be able to prepare something. Like a cat-maid, or a magic girl with bunny ears."

Yama-P kept thinking for a moment, and then he said, "Alright, if we're going to do this, let's not go about it half-assed. I'm not buying some off-the-rack piece of garbage. We go out in private. We find a seamstress, get measurements, we spend money on wigs and decent fabrics, the whole spiel. We're not going to stand out at all unless we do a good job."

"I think I can scrounge up about twenty-thousand yen or so," said Noguchi.

"Do you think it will be worth it?" asked Yama-P.

Noguchi shook his head and said, "Some of those girls at those cosplay conventions are really super-hot. If we lay on these costumes really thick with glasses and wigs, I'll bet we would be unrecognizable."

"And if the whole thing fails we keep it to ourselves," said Yama-P.

"Damn right," said Noguchi as he looked over the photo of Shuichi in the magazine, "I wonder if I'll look good with fishnet stockings?"


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** Hourou Musuko does not belong to me, it's the property of Takako Shimura; I'm just taking it out for a joyride. When I return it to Ms. Shimura's driveway, I hope like hell she doesn't notice I dented fender and scratched the paint job.

**NOTE:** This story takes place immediately after the anime Hourou Musuko Episode 11, so it will obviously differ from the manga. It starts a few months before the prologue.

Anna sat in the audience fighting the urge to run up on stage and tackle Shuichi to the ground. Her head was a flood of emotions as she constantly wiped tears of joy from her face. No one in the audience could see her cry over the applause. The moment had left her oblivious to the people around her. The class play was a rapturous success. The audience laughed when it was supposed to, a few times when it wasn't, and Shuichi's stunning performance outshined them all. For the first time, Anna saw Shuichi for how truly amazing he was. He stood before the audience, bearing his soul with words only a precious few could know the true meaning of, yet everyone stood and applauded him for it.

Shuichi was completely unprepared by the level of the audiences' reaction to his play. He didn't know how to respond. To his left, Doi seemed to be taking it all in stride as he simply smiled, waved, then removed his bizarre wig and shook it at the audience. All Shuichi could do was copy him. It was probably the one time he could wear a dress in front of so many people, and have it feel so accepted and natural. Simply smiling, Shuichi waved, bowed a little, then he caught a bouquet a flowers he realized was tossed to him by his adult acquaintance, Yuki.

Doi pointed to where the flowers were tossed from and asked, "Hey, isn't that your tranny friend?"

The beautiful transsexual woman was cheering so enthusiastically it was drawing attention from the rest of the audience.

"Yes," said Shuichi, and he laughed over how comical it was.

Right after the show backstage, Shuichi never thought he would be so happy as to hear both of his parents say they were very proud of him. If there was anything Shuichi could do in a dress that made everyone so happy, performing onstage seemed to be it. There was much hugging, choked words filled with emotion, and when Shuichi thought it was over, he heard the familiar shrewish voice his sister Maho throw a wet towel on the mood as she said there was someone here to see him. Before Shuichi even knew what was happening, he was covered in Anna. She engulfed him and was squeezing air out of him. An almost incomprehensible blather was pouring out of her.

"Shuichi, I'm so sorry," said Anna as she pressed her face against Shuichi's cheek, "You're so wonderful."

Burying herself in Shuichi's neck, she begged him to forgive her for making such a foolish mistake for trying to break up with him, then she shocked everyone by pulling back to kiss him hard on the mouth. Everyone felt a little self-conscious watching Anna practically consume Shuichi, but his mother suddenly came round and asked;

"Shuichi, do you know this girl?"

Shuichi had to catch his breath for a moment before he could answer it was Anna, and Shuichi's parents finally recognized the girl that had visited their house several times before. Both Anna and her famous model friend Maiko were in disguise. A whole new commotion started up as people recognized Maiko was in their presence. Skilfully, Maiko deflected their attention to make the event about the people who starred in the play, not who came to watch it. Then Yuki jumped in, and whole new introductions had to be made, as Takatsuki had to improvise how she got to know her and explain their friendship. Before anyone had a chance to let it all sink in, Yuki had convinced everyone the evening should be wrapped up with a trip to a local sushi bar.

Less than an hour later, both the sake and the sushi were flowing in a bar almost no one in the party was aware was located at the very edge of a local gay district. It was a two story establishment with an atrium that circled a stage where a drag queen comedy act was taking place. The party was on the second floor that had a whole corner set of tables to themselves. Yuki had everyone in a boisterous guessing game as Shuichi became a little withdrawn. He rested his chin on the barrister looking down at the stage where the mawkish comedians were performing and he was smiling. Anna sat next to him, holding his arm and enjoying the moment. Shuichi looked so content she had to ask what was making him so happy.

"No one has noticed I haven't changed out of my girl's costume," said Shuichi.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The welcome sound of the doorbell ringing in the Nitori residence was heard in the early afternoon. It was the start of a warm summer vacation. Maho just lazily sat on the couch by the TV ignoring the doorbell even though she was the one closest to answer it. Quickly, Shuichi hopped from his room and opened the door to greet Anna, who had a vaguely cat-ish grin. Fighting the urge to glomp her boyfriend on sight, Anna politely greeted everyone in the home, nodding to Maho, who Anna knew must have felt put off with her brother stealing away her former friend. Stubbornly oblivious, Maho acted like she simply didn't care. She lay back on the family couch and was typing away on a blackberry, it was her coping skill.

Shuichi had his large carryon bag filled to the top with carefully placed empty cake boxes covering what was inside. He was about to say his good-byes when his mother noticed the bag and pointed to it.

"Are those the girl's clothes you intend to change into after you go out?"

Shocked by his mother's use of, what he could only guess was a latent superpower; all he could do was answer, yes. Keeping a very peculiar face of mild understanding, Shuichi's mother thought for a second, then she said;

"Why don't you put on your girl's clothes here, and then go out? That way you won't have to lug that heavy bag around everywhere with you."

All Anna and Shuichi could do was glance at each other and laugh a bit, and then Anna said it was a great idea. Looking mortified; Maho remained silent on the couch trying to pretend she didn't hear anything and typed out on her blackberry, "My family has officially gotten too weird! " Maho smothered her face into the couch's pillow to block out Anna's squeals of joy coming from the bedroom while she was dolling up her boyfriend. At one point Maho thought she was going to projectile vomit when she heard her mother praise Shuichi for being so cute in a wig.

"It's brilliant really," said the senior Mrs. Nitori as she looked over her son, "Somehow, it just looks so natural on you. You look better in that dress than Maho."

A muffled scream was heard coming from the family room. The only thing Mrs. Nitori seemed to object to was using any brightly coloured lipstick, making her son look a little too tawdry. As they were about to leave Anna explained she and Shuichi were hooking up with a friend of hers, Tamaki, and her boyfriend. They were going to double date and spend the afternoon at some malls and do some shopping.

Mrs. Nitori asked her son, "Shuichi, do you have enough money to stay out for dinner?"

Before Shuichi could answer Anna said yes, they had plenty of money and they were hoping to go out to see a movie afterwards.

Mrs. Nitori smiled, then she suddenly took on a very serious tone and said, "Ms. Suehiro, I expect you to bring my boy home by ten o'clock."

Stunned into compliance, Anna very politely and promptly bowed to Mrs. Nitori and said yes, she understood. By the time the door shut behind them, Maho was repeatedly thumping her fist on the back of the couch to get her mother's attention.

"Why does Shuu get to stay out until ten?" she demanded, "I'm older than he is and I have to be home by nine!"

The senior Mrs. Nitori straightened out her robe and ignored her daughter's indignities.

"It's different with you, you're a _girl_."

"GIRL?" Maho exasperated, "He's... you... I... _HE'S WEARING A __DRESS__!_"

Reduced to spluttering random words, all Maho could do was scream and storm off to her room. As Shuichi was walking away from his apartment home, he heard his sister scream explicatives out their bedroom window. Then she must have thrown something out into the street as there was a smashing sound of something hitting the garbage cans, scaring a local housecat.

"FUCK YOU, WORLD!" screamed Maho as she raised a pair of middle fingers to the sky.

Then the window was slammed shut.

Anna had a very lively step down the second story walkway, and just as they rounded a corner Anna suddenly shoved Shuichi up against a wall and kissed him hard on the mouth, the same way she did at the end of Shuichi's classroom play. She pulled back more quickly this time, adoring her boyfriend.

"Tell me you want to kiss me," said Anna.

Shuichi blushed, which just made him even more adorable in Anna's eyes and he said yes. Holding back the urge to squeal, Anna quickly changed expressions as she looked around Shuichi face.

"No nose bleed?" she asked inquisitively, "You really are special."

Swiftly Anna was rummaging through her purse as she explained;

"I worked out a way for us to have the whole day together by ourselves."

"What about Tamaki?" asked Shuichi.

"I told you," said Anna as she pulled out her cell phone, "She has her own boyfriend, and she wants to be alone with him, so we all spend the day by ourselves. Then before we go home tonight we phone each other and get our stories straight about being together all day in case our parents choose to interrogate us."

Shuichi wondered if such a simple plan could work since his mother was obviously much more difficult to fool than he thought. Then he realized if his mother knew he was going to do anything naughty she never would have let him go out in the first place, not unless she was actually cool with him having a truly romantic relationship.

Holding hands the whole way, Anna took Shuichi on the subway to Umeda Station, in the heart of the Doyama district. It wasn't too unusual for a pair of young unescorted teens to be right in the very heart of Osaka's gay district. There were plenty of regular family businesses in the crowded city. It was a little unusual to see them sneaking through the backstreets from the bus depo to the seedier parts of town. A brightly coloured cabaret club caused Shuichi to stare as they hurried past. Anne sidestepped their journey around a few drunks and trouble-making teens. For a second Shuichi thought he heard some hooligans in leather call out to them, but Anna quickly lost them by cutting through a McDonald's.

Once they were out the other side, Shuichi could only see the intersection of a very narrow street that was too small to let cars through. There were no people around either. One building on the corner opposite the McDonald's looked old enough to have survived WW II. It was a poorly refurbished ramshackle place with a pair of bright blue beer vendors sitting by the front by the entrance.

Anna thumped one of the vending machines and said, "This place lost its liquor license selling to minors, so they put these up front."

Shuichi looked up and could barely read this was a karaoke club. The kanji painted onto the wood was fading and there were no neon signs or lights anywhere. That was very unusual for any karaoke club. Once Anna pushed the sliding wooden door aside, Shuichi could see the interior was much more superb than the exterior of the building. It had dark coloured walls of heavy oak panelling. There was the smell of exotic scents in the air.

Anna waved to the lady behind the counter and said she had a room reserved. Politely the older woman stood, bowed, and led them down a short hallway. This must have been a small club, thought Shuichi, as the first floor only held four private rooms. There was a staircase at the end of the hallway, but Shuichi read "Massage Parlour" on a printed sign halfway up the stairs. The private room had a huge couch in it almost big enough to be a bed. The only time Shuichi had ever seen anything like it before was on American television. It was a corner couch with very soft upholstery and tan coloured fabrics. The flat screen television on the facing wall had satellite TV as well as karaoke.

The door was latched shut as the proprietor left them alone. On a narrow coffee table Shuichi saw a digital selection pad and he picked it up to see what songs he was going to do first, but Anna took the pad from his hands and put it back down out of his reach. Then she sat on the couch right up against him and gently held his face close to her own and she was looking him over, like she was drinking him in. The wig Shuichi had on was the same wig he was wearing the very first time she ever saw him in girl's clothes. His dress was from the same maker as his first dress she saw him wearing. It was the same style only made for slightly older, taller girls.

Shuichi was a little scared and he looked to the pad for a second.

"Won't they notice if we're not singing?" he asked.

"No," said Anna, with a very cat-like appearance in her eyes, "That's why I chose this place. They don't care and they never check up on you."

She kissed him, not so forcefully this time, and was moving her lips like she was experimenting. Shuichi put his arms around Anna and started to kiss her back. When they paused for a moment Shuichi said;

"I don't know if I'm any good at kissing."

"We have all day to work on it," said Anna.

Shuichi was Anna's first kiss, and she never in her wildest dreams ever thought she would get to kiss something so cute. She always thought her first boyfriend would be a tall and strikingly handsome young man, but that was more like filling an obligation rather than a true desire. The collection of manga and books in her home were always filled with cute things, not adventures with masculine young men. Shuichi's appearance fulfilled a need Anna never even knew she had. She wanted to kiss and make love to cute things. Her fantasies never involved being swept off her feet, but cuddling something adorable, and she couldn't believe she almost let Shuichi get away.

As Shuichi held Anna, he thought this was what it meant to be in love, and to be loved in return. This was how it was supposed to be. As his mind briefly wandered a little, he wondered if this was how happy his parents were when they were first in love, or were his adult friends Yuki and Shiina this happy? To become a lover was such a fascinating new thing for Shuichi; it was like having a wonderful new toy that he could never grow bored with. He wanted to explore every part of Anna as she kissed him around his neck and his ear, and he to her in return.

Despite how new and fascinating their love-making was, Shuichi and Anna couldn't spend a whole day just kissing one another. Once in a while they took a break and actually watched the TV. They ordered some food and did try some karaoke. They spent most of the afternoon holding one another as Shuichi just wanted to lose himself in Anna's embrace. At dinner time Anna's cell phone rang and she climbed off of Shuichi to answer it. It was Anna's friend, Tamaki. She and her boyfriend had just left a hotel not too far away and wanted to meet up for dinner.

"Hotel?" asked Shuichi.

"Yes," said Anna, "Tamaki tells me she goes all the way with her boyfriend."

"Oh."

That sent Shuichi's head spinning. It was something he didn't even think about, and he quickly realized he was a fool for not giving it more consideration. He didn't have anything like a prophylactic and the idea of buying one, especially while walking around in a dress, set his mind into a bit of a panic. Those anxieties got shoved to the back of Shuichi's head as Anna said she had an idea that made her very excited. She wanted to go to a special club she had been invited to many times by Maiko, but she started to refuse to go because so many girls there were always showing off their boyfriends or lovers. She hated always being the single odd one out, but now she didn't have to be.

The club was in the Shinsaibashi district. Despite it being only a few blocks away Anna insisted on calling a cab. It dropped them off in a back alley that was barely wide enough for the small vehicle to fit in. The entrance had no marking at all except for a few "No Parking" signs. Anna's delicate hands swung a heavy rusted iron gate aside, which led to a parking garage. The garage had several very expensive cars. Shuichi spotted a couple of Porsches and a Ferrari. The rest of the garage was full of high-end domestic luxury cars. There were attractive people hanging all around smoking cigarettes, laughing. Two beautiful women who looked like they could be models were kissing each other as they sat on the hood of a man's car. The driver inside was laughing and was repeatedly honking his horn while his radio played loudly.

There was an enormous dark-skinned man standing by an unmarked door at the far side of the parking lot. It looked like he was wearing a very expensive suit that made him look like a yakuza. As they got close the man recognized Anna and his face gave a much friendlier expression than Shuichi would have guessed the man could make.

"Anna-chan," the huge man let out a huge bluster.

He bent low to let the much smaller Anna give him two dainty kisses, one on each cheek.

"Maiko will be so happy to see you finally came back!"

"Is she here?" asked Anna.

"Not yet," said the huge man as he checked a clipboard he kept under his massive arm, "But your two other friends are here. Pierre has a private booth for you."

The man pointed a finger that looked as thick as a polish sausage at Nitori and asked, "Who's your friend?"

Anna grabbed Shuichi's arm and proudly announced, "This is my boyfriend."

The huge man raised an eyebrow and exclaimed, "Boyfriend?"

Anna gave Shuichi an affectionate kiss on the cheek.

Shuichi, with his changing voice did his best to sound like a boy and said, "My name is Shuichi Nitori."

The doorman shook his head and said, "Boy you kids start younger every year with this sort of thing."

He opened the door and held it for the two happy lovers. The club was enormous; almost twice the size of the two story sushi house Shuichi had a cast party at the week before. The club had multiple levels leading down to a dance floor and a central bar. The lighting was mostly subdued and the loud music was kept near the dance floor. The rest of the club was near quiet enough to have a normal conversation.

A thin man almost as short as Anna was wearing a maître d' outfit. He had a bizarre face and even though Anna greeted him as Pierre, he was obviously not French. His eyebrows and moustache looked like they were drawn on with black eyeliner pencil. As he led them through the club his manners kept switching from a simpering fastidiousness to exploding with boisterous articulations. In the corner Shuichi spotted what he knew as a Visual-Kei singer in a large private booth surround by young women. The young man was wearing what looked like a gothic Lolita outfit with fishnet stockings, huge platform boots, a feathered wig with double ponytails, and a ton of makeup all over. It made Shuichi wonder if his own cross dressing was actually behind the curve.

Shuichi knew Anna and her family were wealthy, but for Anna to have such ease of access to a place like this, Shuichi felt maybe he was in a little over his head. He doubted one week of his allowance would be enough to pay for a single drink in this place. They were led to a smaller but very comfortable booth that had an excellent view of the bar and dance floor at the levels below them. The tall girl, Tamaki, was there. She and her boyfriend looked they must be a few years older than Anna. Tamaki's boyfriend could be eighteen. He had a dishevelled appearance as the unbuttoned collar on his white dress shirt was covered in lipstick, and he looked as though he could care less if anyone noticed.

After the girl's had a cheerful greeting, Tamaki was very impressed with Shuichi.

"You look even better now than you did on stage," she said.

Shuichi started blushing again, which Anna loved to see on him. After they had some appetizers and talked for a while, the girls decided to head off to the bathroom. For a moment, Shuichi thought he should go with them since he was dressed as a girl, but he got the impression Anna and Tamaki wanted to be alone together for a moment, so he stayed behind. Tamaki's boyfriend was a high school graduate. Shuichi learned his name was Makoto. He was swirling a clear drink with ice in it.

"So you're a transsexual?" he asked casually.

Shuichi tried not be taken aback by such a frank question, then he said, "Yes I am."

"It's a good angle for you," said Makoto, "That dress does make you look cute. If I could be that cute I would dress like Ayana Tsubaki herself if it could get me in there."

With his drink in his hand Makoto gestured towards the booth where the Visual-Kei singer was sitting with very pretty girls all around him.

"I went to school with that guy," said Makoto, "He's a decent enough of a musician alright, but for years his band was going nowhere. Then one day he gets himself a girlfriend that's into cosplay and she dresses him and his band up and BAM. Look at him now."

As Shuichi tried to peer closer at the singer, he didn't look as distant or as aloof as he was at first. If anything he was looking a little overwhelmed by all the attention. Behaving like shy made him even more cute to the girls fawning over him.

"You wouldn't believe how much of a nerd that guy used to be when I knew him," said Makoto, "I guess he still is a nerd, since girl's think nerds are so kawaii these days."

In the ladies washroom there were several young women sneaking a cigarette. Tamaki pulled Anna into a stall to have a private conversation and she demanded to know if she kissed her boyfriend yet.

"Definitely," said Anna.

Tamaki whistled, then said, "Making out with a guy in a dress, and one that cute too. That's a whole new kick I haven't tried yet."

"Oh Tamaki he's so adorable I could just eat him up!" Anna shouted, "I just know I'm deeply in love with him."

"Has he confessed to you?" asked Tamaki.

"Twice!" said Anna, "And he says it so confidently. I know he means it. One time he said it after I tried to break up with him."

"Did you go all the way with him, yet?" asked Tamaki.

"No!" said Anna, "It's only our first date."

Tamaki pulled out a compact to check her makeup as she casually said, "On my first date with Makoto we did things that nearly got us arrested. Still, as wild as Makoto is, I don't think I could ever get him to try wearing a dress."

"Shuichi doesn't do it to be wild or rebellious," said Anna, "He does it because it makes him happy; he genuinely wants to wear dresses. He told me he just wants to wear cute clothes. It's how he is, and he even warned me that might disturb me. It's simply how he intends to be."

"And yet he still likes girls?" asked Tamaki.

Anna remembered how Shuichi kissed her all afternoon and she said, "I'm pretty confident he likes girls."

"I've heard of cross dressers who like girls," said Tamaki, "There's that British comedian, Eddie Izzard. Oh and there's that movie with Johnny Depp."

"Johnny Depp wears dresses?"

"No I saw a movie he made back in the nineties," said Tamaki, "It was about an American director who made awful films way back in the fifties and sixties. A guy named Ed Wood. He liked to wear dresses and he said he definitely liked women. He even made a movie about it explaining it all. Of course everyone regarded it as a joke."

"Shuichi is no joke," said Anna, "I'm pretty serious about how much I'm in love with him."

"Still, there are going to be people who consider Shuichi to be an amusement or a fad, especially if you're going to hang out in places like this."

Anna spent a moment in thought, and then she said, "How did Johnny Depp look in a dress?"

"Niiiice," Tamaki said in a lusty voice, "Very nice. But he had this stupid little moustache, like Pierre's? It threw the whole thing off."

When the girls got back to the table Tamaki scooted over to her side next to her boyfriend and started kissing him passionately. Shuichi felt a little uncomfortable watching them, and then he looked to Anna.

"Are you embarrassed to kiss me in front of other people?" he asked.

"What?" went Anna.

"I mean, I understand if you would be."

Without letting him finish his sentence, Anna grabbed Shuichi's face and kissed him hard, she let it linger for a while as she started to work her way around his neck. Shuichi began to forget where he was.

"It's about time!" came a sobering call from a familiar voice.

Anna pulled back from Shuichi to see Maiko standing there not wearing a disguise. It was a little strange to see her alone.

"Where's Arimaki?" asked Anna.

"We broke up," said Maiko, not sounding the least bit emotionally bothered.

Maiko put her purse down and pushed Anna aside to take a seat in the booth.

"You're an idiot," said Maiko.

"What do you mean?"

"For not kissing him sooner," said Maiko, pointing to Shuichi.

"We've been making up for lost time," Shuichi joked.

Maiko picked up a dessert menu and threw it at the couple making out in the opposite side of the booth.

"Get a room you two," said Maiko.

"We had a room," said Tamaki.

"Yeah, we wrecked it," said Tamaki's spirited lover, Makoto.

"That's a pretty insensitive thing to say after I've broken up with my boyfriend," said Maiko.

Anna started laughing out loud.

"He wasn't your _boyfriend_," said Anna, "He was just someone one you were going out with!"

"Aw, don't say that," said Maiko as she teasingly feigned rejection, "Oh Arimaki, I loved you so much. I'm going to throw myself from the top of Akashi Kaikyō bridge for you."

Tamaki slammed her palm against the table in disbelief and said Maiko couldn't walk across the Akashi Kaikyō bridge to throw herself from it because she was deathly afraid of heights.

"The last time we drove to Awaji Island you closed your eyes a cried all the way across that bridge," said Anna.

Maiko covered her pretty eyes and said, "Oh stop, it makes me dizzy just thinking about that. Sitting on the end of this seat makes me think I'm going to fall off it."

Waving her hands for Anna and Shuichi to move back, Maiko climbed over them to take a seat between Shuichi and Makoto. She then grabbed an arm from each young man on either side of her like she was claiming them for her own.

"A bishi on my right and a joso on my left," said Maiko as she gave a huge smile, "It's like I'm at work."

Anna tightly grabbed Shuichi's arm on his left and said, "Get your own boyfriend."

Maiko pulled Shuichi back and said, "I like yours better!"

Shuichi found himself at the centre of a tug of war that carried on until wig was knocked out of place. This drew attention from around the club as the music seemed to stop playing just at that moment. The uncomfortable feeling of a lot of eyes on Shuichi crawled up his back. He looked around in dismay as he tried to nonchalantly straighten his wig. By chance Shuichi made eye contact with the Visual-Kei singer in the other booth who was observing Shuichi's peril.

"Welcome to my world," he called out.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Through a fortunate timing of the subway lines, Shuichi arrived at the stop closest to his home twenty minutes before his curfew deadline. Holding hands with his first lover, Shuichi and Anna heedlessly strolled through the dark streets enjoying the last moments of a perfect night together.

"Shouldn't I be walking you to your home?" asked Shuichi.

"I already asked my mom's driver to pick me up at your place," said Anna, "Besides, your mom said _'Bring my boy home by ten'_ and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Anna sounded a little intimidated by Shuichi's mother, then as they reached Shuichi's two story apartment she let out a sudden gasp. There was a young girl staggering around the stairs that led up to the floor level where Shuichi lived. She was kicking empty beers cans piled up around her feet; then she held onto the staircase railing and vomited all over the side. Unable to keep her balance, the girl collapsed backwards onto the stairs.

"Isn't that Maho?" asked Anna, sounding shocked.

It was Maho, Shuichi couldn't believe it. They ran to her side. Standing over her, Shuichi could see whatever Maho had been doing she didn't even bother changing into her street clothes to do it. All she had on was a pyjama top, loose track pants, and house slippers. She looked up at them hazy-eyed and frowned. Anna was about to say something but Shuichi interrupted her right away.

"How did you get your hands on beer?"

Maho clumsily dug some loose change out of her pocket and let it spill all over the ground.

"V-vending... machine," she slurred out, not sounding the least bit repentant.

Right after she spoke more vomit was on its way out as Shuichi had to quickly dodge to keep a shower of sick from ruining his girl's dress shoes. Maho was very surprised to hear Shuichi use a swear word as his tone changed to a very take charge character Anna had never seen before from Shuichi.

"We have to find a way to sneak her back into the home," said Shuichi, "If my parents find her like this while she's with us we could both wind up grounded."

"What do we do?" asked Anna.

Shuichi spent a moment in thought, and he laid out his plan.

"We'll carry her up to the bedroom window. Then I'll go in, announce I'm home, and see if mom and dad know if Maho is missing. If everything is cool, I'll open the bedroom window and pull her in. If we can just get her into bed unnoticed we'll be fine."

"Shouldn't I come with you?" asked Anna.

"No," said Shuichi, "I'll tell my parents I escorted you home like a gentleman. I need you to stay out here and keep an eye on Maho to make sure she doesn't do anything until I can get the window open, and I'm going to need your help to boost her up. I'm not strong enough to lift her myself."

They each grabbed an arm of Shuichi's drunken sister and hauled her up the stairs. She didn't use her feet in any way to help, possibly out of spite. A slurring rattle poured out of her as Maho was dragged to the window of her bedroom. Carefully peering inside, Shuichi could see only the desk lamp was on, and there was no sign anyone had been inside. The window was closed but not latched shut. It was probably the way how his sister snuck out.

"Wait here," Shuichi whispered very quietly, "I'm going in, I'll say hello and good night to my parents; then I'll open the window."

Anna shook her head yes. Shuichi opened and closed the front door behind him very quickly so not to give his parents a chance to see outside. Holding Maho up against the wall as she ducked under the window, Anna could hear the muffled sounds of Shuichi greeting his parents. Anna concentrated to listen if Shuichi sounded nervous in any way. Moaning a little, Maho was trying to get Anna's attention as she was wiping drool and flecks of vomit off her face.

"Anna?"

"What?" Anna whispered hurriedly, as she worried someone would hear them.

"Did Shuichi kiss you?"

With her mind too bothered to scramble for more calculated answer, Anna could only admit Shuichi did kiss her. Maho spluttered in response and she turned away, looking miserable.

"That useless ass Riku hasn't tried to kiss me yet," said Maho, "He can't even bring himself to say my first name."

Inside Shuichi was trying to convince his parents he needed to get undressed right away because his wig was itching badly. Before he could open his bedroom door, his mother warned him that Maho was in an exceedingly bad mood and she was currently being grounded for her behaviour.

"Right," said Shuichi, "Uhh... I'll keep my distance."

Tightly shutting the door to the bedroom, Shuichi also shut the room divider to hopefully prevent any sound from the window reaching out of the room. As quietly as he could Shuichi slid the window aside and stuck his head out to see Anna bent over his passed out sister.

"She threw up again," said Anna.

Shaking his head in disbelief Shuichi went, "God dammit. Oh the smell! You didn't get any on you, did you?"

"No."

"Give me her hands and try to lift her, I'll pull her in," said Shuichi.

With a lot of pushing and pulling, Maho was hauled inside. Her pyjama top got caught on the window sill a few times and had to be yanked free. Finally she fell over the side and hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, making a huge flump sound. Shuichi had also fallen and sat on the floor, waiting for the sound of his parents approaching the bedroom. Nothing happened. Peering over the window sill, Anna whispered to Shuichi.

"I think you're in the clear."

A car horn was heard beeping near the building's corner.

"That's the ride I called for," said Anna, "Listen, when Maho wakes up tell her to drink a lot of water and take some Aspirin."

"Why?" asked Shuichi.

"Because she's going to have one hell of a headache," said Anna.

Saying goodnight, Shuichi quickly kissed Anna and she snuck away on tip toe down the walkway. As best he could Shuichi pulled his sister up onto her bed and he rolled her body into place. Unfortunately she was upside-down with her head at the wrong end of the bed, but Shuichi made up his mind that was just going to have to do.

Maho's clothes reeked of alcohol and vomit, something had to be done about how filthy they were. The washer and dryer were on the opposite side of the apartment from the parent's bedroom. All Shuichi had to do was wait for his parents to go to bed and then he could erase the evidence from Maho's attire. Of course that did mean Shuichi would have to undress his sister, but Maho almost always wore layers of clothes so there was another shirt and underwear underneath.

"Good morning sunshine," Shuichi said early the next day as he shoved the room divider aside to let sunlight hit Maho's face.

Anna frowned. Moaning, she lifted her arm over her face to hide from the brightness. Then she saw Shuichi was holding a glass of water and some pills.

"What the hell is that?" asked Maho.

"It's for your hangover, don't you have a headache?" asked Shuichi.

"Baka, I'm fine," said Maho.

"Really?" asked Shuichi, "You must have an amazing constitution."

Maho sat up in bed and sniffed her clothes.

"I did have a headache when I woke up around four this morning. I heard some water running outside the window."

"That was me," said Shuichi, "I had to hose your puke off the walkway so mom and dad wouldn't see it."

"Did you wash my clothes too?" asked Maho as she tugged at her shirt.

Shuichi just briefly shook his head, hoping to skip the uncomfortable issue about him undressing her. Letting out a swear, Maho scrambled around her bed until she found her cell phone, then she leaped out of bed and shoved her brother against the wall.

"You son of a bitch, you were at 'La Maison D'Amours Illicites' last night!"

Shuichi didn't know what Maho was talking about.

"The night club, baka!"

Thinking for a moment, Shuichi went, "That place had a name?"

Growling in frustration, Maho opened her cell phone and went through a list of photos that were sent to her. Then she found the one she was looking for and shoved it into Shuichi's face. Taking the phone, Shuichi could clearly see a high definition picture of himself sitting in a dinner booth. He was kissing Anna on the mouth while Maiko sat next to him.

"How did you get this?" Shuichi demanded.

Maho took her phone back and scrolled through a few more pictures and showed her brother a few close up pictures of the Visual-Kei singer that was in a booth close to Shuichi's. There were nearly a dozen fangirls there.

"Do you know any of the girls that were at the club?" Shuichi asked.

"No, not personally," said Maho, "Those photos have been circulating everywhere all over the net. After I got grounded one of the girls from the modelling agency sent this to me. I was so angry I snuck out to get drunk."

"Why?"

"Because it's not fair!" screamed Maho, "My brother is living the life I wanted to have! You're the pretty one! You're the popular one! You're the one hanging out with famous models in exclusive clubs! You even got my dumbass boyfriend to fall in love with you."

"Riku isn't in love with me," said Shuichi as he tried to hush his sister, "Do you think mom might have seen these pictures?"

Maho gave a derisive smile as she was oddly looking around Shuichi's open neck shirt.

"Have you talked to mom or dad yet this morning?"

"No, why?"

Maho pointed to her brother's neck and said, "You might want to do something about those, first."

Confused, Shuichi looked down to find purple splotches just barely within his line of vision. He used his sister's makeup mirror to see both sides of his neck had purple marks all over his skin.

"What are they?" he asked.

"Baka. Those are hickeys," said Maho.

"I didn't see them there last night," said Shuichi as he became worried.

"Relax," said Maho, "It takes a few hours for them to show up like that after you have been bitten."

Taking a seat in front of the makeup mirror, Shuichi took a few makeup sponges and started mixing a base to apply to his skin to cover up the hickeys.

"It won't work that way," said Maho, "You have to blend it all over or else you'll just have skin coloured patches."

"Then why don't you help me?" said Shuichi.

"Why should I?"

"I covered up for you, now you've got to help cover up for me," said Shuichi.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Maho got up and stood behind Shuichi. She took a container of skin coloured base and started mixing it with a small sponge.

"For someone who wants to be a cross dresser, you sure have a lot to learn about makeup."

As Maho painted all around Shuichi's neck, she noticed something peculiar. Closely she looked around the left side, then the right.

"What is it?"

"The bite marks on either side of your neck don't match," said Maho.

"What are you, a forensic scientist?" asked Shuichi.

Looking closer, Maho could see there was a gap in the imprints on the right side of Shuichi's neck.

"Maiko has an artificial tooth on the left side of her mouth. It's an expensive implant; I've seen her take it out when she was cleaning her teeth."

"Really? How did Maiko lose a tooth?"

"Getting in drunken bar brawls with sailors," Maho said sarcastically, "How the hell should I know? My point is, are you fooling around with Maiko on Anna?"

"No!" said Shuichi, as he pointed to his left side, "Look, when Anna was doing this to me."

Shuichi then pointed to his right, "Maiko was doing this at the same time."

Maho was about scold her brother in a retort, and then she suddenly stopped herself and went, "Yeah, that's Maiko alright."

When Maho was finished applying makeup onto her brother, she spun him around on her office chair to face him.

"The next time you get invited to 'La Maison D'Amours Illicites', you find a way to get me to come too."

The last thing Shuichi wanted was to get saddled with having his older sister as an escort when he wanted to be with his girlfriend, Anna.

"I'm not spending the whole day with you when Anna and I want to be alone," said Shuichi, "If you help cover up for our relationship I'll get you into the club with Maiko."

"When did you get to be such a little schemer?" asked Maho.

"Deal or no?" demanded Shuichi.

Impressed, and a little annoyed with how her brother was suddenly standing up to her, Maho had no choice but to agree. At breakfast that morning, Maho repeatedly ignored request from her mother to sit up straight as she grumpily munched on toasted biscuits. Father was bright and cheerful and asked Shuichi what he intended to do this summer vacation.

"I'm going to look for a job," said Shuichi.

"So soon?" asked mother, "I thought you would wait another year before working."

"It's something I've been thinking of for a while," said Shuichi, "If I'm going to be going out with Anna I'm going to need a lot more than my allowance to get by."

"Really?"

"It's the clothes," said Maho, "Anna spent all day looking at nice clothes, and Shuichi can't buy anything for himself."

Marvelling at his sister's clever improvisation, Shuichi agreed, "Yes, that is part of it. I'm also going to need to buy two sets of clothes. Boys and girls, since obviously I can't wear girl's clothes all the time."

"I think it's a great idea," said father, "Where do you intend to work?"

"I have some ideas," said Shuichi.


End file.
